The sooner dead animals are off the roads, the better
If there’s something strange in your local road, who you gonna call?
“Gilmer County Road Department and Public Works” is the answer.
“It’s a dirty part of the job, but it’s one of the things we do just to keep our county looking good,” Director Ryan Steingruber said.
After hitting an animal, it can be hard to know what to do. First, make sure everyone involved in the accident is all right and file a police report. Then it’s best to alert the road department.
Their phone number is 706-635-4589, and their website is https://gilmercounty-ga.gov/road-department/.
The road department isn’t responsible for every road in the county, Steingruber said.
Some roads belong to the Georgia Department of Transportation, some belong to Ellijay, some belong to East Ellijay and some are private roads.
But it’s always good to call the road department first, he said. They have a list of who owns roads and phone numbers for those who maintain them. If they can’t help, they’ll know who can.
“We can do a lot of things until we get to the end of our chain, and after that, we can’t do a single thing,” Steingruber said.
Any animal left on the road is a lure that causes more accidents.
Predators, scavengers and pets get lured in by the scent of carrion. When they get on the road, they can get hit and die too, he said.
This fact means that even small dead animals can be a big problem.
“It doesn’t take anything at all for our guys to go out with a shovel, pick it up and then take care of the body,” Steingruber said.
It’s best to call immediately after hitting an animal. But if you see a roadkill animal anytime, it’s still good to call.
“Especially in the summer months, the quicker we can get to it, the better off everybody is,” Steingruber said.
The road department has no easy way to know where dead animals are if people don’t call. Unless someone from the department drives along to check county roads, phone calls are the best way to know, he said.
“It’s very hard for us to find out about it,” Steingruber said.